LEGAL BRIEFS By Jennifer Poff Cooper A rundown of some newer legal issues business operators may want to take note of. “It’s been a busy year,” said Michael Gardner, a partner at the Roanoke law firm of Woods Rogers PLC, regarding legal issues that could impact the business community.
held,” said Gardner. Someone cannot have professed to be an atheist and then use the religious belief exemption to avoid vaccination.
First on everyone’s mind is COVID. Can employers require their employees to be vaccinated? The short answer is yes, but there are always caveats in law. “There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to COVID and employment,” said Gardner.
The advantages of requiring COVID vaccines are twofold. First, it gets the workplace back to normal. In addition, it meets the OSHA general duty clause for having a safe workplace.
Employers can require vaccinations for their employees but must make accommodations if disability (health conditions) or religious beliefs preclude the employee from receiving the vaccine. The religious beliefs must be “sincerely
Still, most employers are not requiring the vaccine. One consideration is the tight labor market; employers must decide whether to fire a worker for noncompliance when they may have a difficult time filling the position. However, some larger employers are starting to require vaccinations, so it will be interesting to see how it trickles down to our area, said Gardner. “It will be a question of whether the bigger dominoes fall,” he added. Another issue is what employers will do about drug screening since recreational marijuana became legal in Virginia as of July 1, even though it is still illegal on a federal level. Gardner said, “There is an odd friction between the two right now.” He said the good news for employers is that Virginia’s new law does not affect their ability to drug test or require a drug-free workforce. “It doesn’t change much,” Gardner said.
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Michael Gardner
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t AUGUST 2021 / vbFRONT.com
What has changed is that Virginia has added employment restrictions that prohibit employers from disciplining or terminating an employee for medical marijuana use (with a valid prescription). However, if an employee is in a safetysensitive position or a position that requires a drug-free screen, such as working on some federal contracts,
